Prayer does not fit us for the greater works; prayer is the greater work.” Oswald Chambers
For the first seven days of July, the seventh month of 2014, I, along with many around the globe participated in a time of concentrated prayer coordinated by Anne Graham Lotz. The desire and focus of the prayer time was for a Great Awakening, an unprecedented movement of the Holy Spirit across the globe, calling believers to a deeper relationship with Christ, and unbelievers into a saving relationship with Him.
Each day Anne’s ministry sent an email containing a prayer that we could pray, or use as a model for uttering our own heart cries to God. Each day focused on a different aspect of our lives that need attention in prayer. The prayers were powerful, full of opportunities to repent of sin, and ask for God to move.
On the 7th day, July 7, Anne Graham Lotz asked us to fast and pray for 7 hours of our choosing. I chose from 5am until noon. Her emailed prayer that day was broken down into hourly segments, such as adoration, repentance, thanksgiving, intercession, etc. Without question, Day 7 was the most powerful, and brought me to tears several times.
During these 7 days there was much that penetrated my heart like an arrow, causing me to rejoice, repent, and request. I wanted to share a few of the most meaningful portions of Anne’s prayers with you today. These are all direct quotes from her emails.
DAY 1 – The prayer focus on this day was the POWER of Jesus Christ.
- We repent of complaining as we wring our hands in despair, thinking our nation and our world are falling apart when they are really falling into place—right at your feet.
- We repent of striving to control our own destiny, or our church’s ministry, or our nation’s priorities so that they conform to our standards and agenda.
- We ask that You would manifest Your power in such a way that we, Your people, would stop pointing our finger at others, and instead fall on our faces in repentance of our own sin; that the church would wake up in its relationship with You and wake up to the urgency of the times in which we live; and that our nation’s attention would once again be so fixed on You that it would return to the faith of our founding fathers.
Day 2 – Today’s prayer focus was the WEALTH.
- We repent of our greed that has run up trillions of dollars of national debt.
- We repent of feeling entitled to and demanding what someone else has earned, instead of taking responsibility for ourselves and our families as we trust You.
- We repent of being consumed with worry over our financial, material needs as though You are not sufficient for all things.
Day 3 – WISDOM was the focus for this day.
- We repent of leaning on our own understanding, immersing ourselves in politics to change our nation, instead of looking to You.
- We ask that You would open our spiritual eyes to see the foolishness of following the crowd, or compromising eternal Truth because it is not politically correct, or succumbing to peer pressure in order to be more accepted, or trying to blend into our culture so as not to invite criticism or ostracism, and so live eternally wasted lives.
- We ask that You generously give us and our leaders wisdom from on High.
Day 4 – This day focused on STRENGTH.
- We repent of our arrogance and pride that have led us to think we are sufficient in ourselves.
- We repent of looking to the President or to our Pastor or to a Priest or to a government agency for the help we need before we look to You.
- We ask that You give us deep convictions regarding the truth of who You are and what You have said, and the courage to stand up and speak out for them.
Day 5 – The topic of HONOR was the day’s focus.
- We repent of caring more about our own reputations than Yours.
- We repent of priorities, actions and decisions that reveal we honor and exalt ourselves, our friends, our families, other people, and even our wallets, above You.
Day 6 – GLORY was the focus on this day.
- We repent of tarnishing Your glory with our bitterness, meanness, unforgiveness, pridefulness, unkindness, rudeness, self-rightousness or any sin that makes others think less of You. We repent of giving others the impression that You tolerate sin because we do.
- We repent of hiding Your glory in our denominational loyalty that can lead to devisiveness and exclusiveness so that we make others feel they are on the periphery of Your inner circle, and so feel alienated from You.
- We repent of give You glory, while taking a 10% commission for ourselves.
- We ask that Your church, once again, be the Light of the world, like a city on a hill that cannot be hidden, beckoning the lost to come home to You.
Day 7 – PRAISE was the focus. There was so much offered in this day that it is impossible for me to give you even a taste of it. So, I will link to this day, and encourage you to click here to read Day 7’s prayer offering.
These seven days were incredibly powerful, and I have shared only a few of the many, many words offered by Lotz. In His Word, God promised to move in response to the prayers of His people. I claim that promise today, and wait expectantly.
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